Co-innovation Dynamics

Conclusion

The objective of the research of which the results are presented in this book was to study the dynamics of client–supplier Open Innovation. The aim was to understand how the performance of the client–supplier relationship is built and evolves in the context of the shifting and uncertain environment of innovation.

It started from a need identified as a practitioner: the difficulties that companies face, of any size, any sector and whatever their position in a value network, to set up and then maintain innovation relationships from the exploration of new methods all the way to their exploitation.

This need was also in line with the political and economic actors’ reading of the need to make client–supplier relationships partnership-based and to stimulate collective intelligence in order to strengthen the competitiveness of business ecosystems [GAL 12, RET 11, VOL 10].

Previous academic works shed light on this subject, or part of it. However, only a few allow us to understand its complexity. Moreover, in order to contribute to the answer to these needs, our research path carried out within the framework of a doctoral thesis [SER 15] brought us to confront theories and perceptions of the reality.

It allowed us to reach a level of understanding of the issues that were difficult for the practitioner to access when they were subjected to the pressure of the firm’s time. Following this path, we offer practitioners and theorists a better understanding of the complexity of ...